“As a team member who’s been here for 16 years, Grow really puts people first,” said Chantel Negron, Assistant Vice President of Community Development at Grow Financial Federal Credit Union. “That’s true whether it applies to team members as an employer, or to members as a financial institution. In the community that Grow serves, it’s really looking to put people first and see what it can do to help people.”
Grow Financial began in 1955 with eight people in a broom closet on MacDill Air Force Base. The goal was to help civilian and military personnel save and borrow money in a safe way. Almost 70 years later, Grow Financial is the third largest credit union in the Tampa Bay region. In all, it operates in 26 locations across both Florida and South Carolina. Though the size of the operation has changed, its mission has not.
“At the heart of what we do, we still serve the same purpose, which is to provide a safe space for our larger community to save and be able to borrow funds,” Negron said. “We serve people, not profit.”
Designated by the Department of the Treasury as a Certified Community Development Financial Institution in 2021, serving the local community is one of its key areas of focus. This includes tailoring products and services for underserved and low-income communities, such as financial education, affordable housing initiatives, workforce development initiatives, and more. Grow Financial recently opened a new West River location in collaboration with the Tampa Housing Authority to bring full financial services to the area.
(Photo: Grand Opening of Grow Financial Federal Credit Union's West River Location - a collaboration with the City of Tampa's Housing Authority and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.)
“Prior to us moving into that area, we recognized that there was a kind of financial banking desert,” Negron said. “We’re hoping to provide access so that we can be able to help them with whatever their small goals are — and even their larger dreams for the future.”
As part of their Summer Financial Wellness Series, Grow Financial is hosting workshops for the residents of West River throughout the months of June, July, and August. The focus is on the fundamentals of banking, savings and budgeting techniques, personal credit, and debt management.
“I think we make the assumption that people just know. That you turn 18 and you should just know what credit is and how to build credit,” Negron said. “Everyone doesn’t have the same financial access and knowledge. Our goal is really to meet people where they are.”
Part of their Summer Financial Wellness Series is providing financial literacy lessons to children in the East Tampa Brain Boosters Camp, a youth camp for children in low-income families. “We come in, we do financial literacy, but we make it fun,” Negron said. After hosting an educational presentation, Grow Financial follows up the lessons with an activity in which kids can earn “Grow Bucks.” The kids can use it to purchase items during the Financial Literacy Fair the credit union hosts for the camp kids at the end of the summer. The book bags and school supplies for the kids to pick from are donated by Grow Financial.
Negron hopes these lessons will have an impact not only on the child receiving them, but also on their entire family.
“We’re finding that the children go home and talk to their parents about the things they’ve learned,” Negron said. “Which is great because maybe they’re in households that don’t have a strong financial literacy background. So, this prompts that conversation even between child and parent.”
Grow Financial’ s involvement in the community isn’t limited to their summer initiatives. Team members are given volunteer days they can use to serve in the community, volunteering their time to a cause or organization they feel passionate about. In addition, the Grow Financial Foundation is a charitable nonprofit organization that gives back to the community in monetary ways, partnering with different nonprofits throughout the community.
A member of the Tampa Bay Chamber since 1987, Grow Financial has partnered with the Chamber on several empowering initiatives, sponsoring the Minority Business Accelerator program and serving on the accelerator’s advisory council. Over the years, its employees have also participated in Emerging Leaders for young professionals and the legacy Leadership Tampa program.
“We love being a member of the Chamber,” Negron said. “We think our mission and our vision aligns really well with the Chamber and being able to implement our strategy across Tampa.”